Location-based information intermediation and acquisition method, intermediation computer system, and mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A system for providing a mobile communication terminal, the position of which can be detected with location-based information that is associated with a detected position, and a method of service for providing the mobile communication terminal with the location-based information automatically and quickly by synchronizing with behavior of the mobile communication terminal. A location-based information intermediation method and a location-based information acquisition method are disclosed. Still further, the present invention provides the mobile communication terminal and the intermediation computer system for the method.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method, and more particularly, it relatesto a method for acquiring location-based information that is in relationto a detected position in a mobile communication terminal the positionof which is detectable, a method for, intermediation service thatsynchronizes with behavior of the mobile communication terminal andprovides a mobile communication terminal with the location-basedinformation that is in relation to a position of the mobilecommunication terminal among a plurality of pieces of location-basedinformation provided on a network through support of a intermediationcomputer system, and the mobile communication terminal for utilizingsuch service, or the intermediate computer system for supporting inproviding the service.

BACKGROUND ART

Four examples of a prior art location-based information acquisitionmethod that is relatively close to a method of the present inventionwill be shown as follows.

Prior art 1 (JP-A 160076/1999) discloses a navigation unit thatcommunicates with a destination facility (e.g. a restaurant) to send apredetermined message about a user name, reservation request and so onby e-mail when a vehicle on which the unit is mounted reaches within apredetermined distance from the destination facility on a map installedon the unit or the time required to reach the destination facility comesto a predetermined value.

However, in the navigation unit shown in the prior art example 1 thereis a problem that its application is restricted or impractical since itsterminal cannot know information about the facility that may be updateddaily on the move automatically, moreover an address of the destinationfacility must be set in the navigation unit in advance, and thereforethe navigation unit cannot cope with such changes as closing orestablishment of facilities or alternation of the contents of theservice provided.

Prior art 2 (ITS Congress '99, “Proposal of an Algorithm forTransmission and Cash of Location Dependent Data for In-Vehicle ComputerSystem”) discloses another navigation unit that receives a series ofinformation that is necessary for driving such as landmarks located inthe traveling direction, maps and so on successively when the vehiclereaches predetermined positions. This unit receives the series ofinformation that is transmitted from a database through networks by wayof radiowave transmission facilities and so on placed along roadseverywhere. Furthermore, as an extension of this method, this unitobtains data on positions along a planned route in advance and in alump. With this configuration, It may solve the problem that if the dataconcerning the planned route has not been obtained in advance, it takestoo much time to retrieve data concerning landmarks, maps and so on in adatabase after the vehicle has arrived a predetermined position and thenreceive and display the data, and therefore the data may be displayedonly after the vehicle has passed the position corresponding to thedata.

However, the method as shown in prior art 2 may have the followingproblems when the vehicle changes its route or stops driving:

(1) Communication may often be performed uselessly (communication costsmay often be wasted);

(2) An extra memory is needed in every navigation unit to store data fore.g. four nodes (crossovers) in advance;

(3) This method cannot be adapted when the driving route has not beenfixed beforehand;

(4) Since it is not indicated who prepares and updates a database, thismethod may lack in operational feasibility;

(5) Since the contents of the database are permanent, the navigationUnit according to this method is totally equal in terms of functions tothe conventional navigation units that store the map database on astorage device such as a CD-ROM or a DVD permanently.

Next, prior art 3 (JP-A 307035/1998) discloses a system for grasping aposition of a vehicle equipped with a GPS receiver at a center andresultantly informing the vehicle of appearance of an informationproviding spot in the neighborhood of the vehicle by any communicatingmeans. For example, in this system, the center monitors that a landmarksuch as a gas station approaches and informs the vehicle of suchsituation by telephone, FAX or a pager and the like.

However, the system shown in prior art 3 has a problem that significantcommunication costs are wasted uselessly since the vehicle must transmitlocation information to the center continuously regardless of presenceof the landmark in the neighborhood. Further, since conventionalnavigation units have already implemented a function to notify to thevehicle of the approach of the landmark (the gas station in thisexample) by setting the gas station as a passing point, there is no needto take a trouble to communicate with the center. Moreover, in thissystem shown in prior art 3, the mobile communication terminal cannotknow information that is provided by facilities and that would beupdated daily such as, for example, “today's gasoline price—90yen/liter, Aug. 10, 2000”.

In addition, there has been another prior art wherein a mobilecommunication terminal unit that comprises a PDA or a note PC equippedwith communicating means such as a cellular phone or a PHS and so on,and position detecting means such as a GPS receiver and so on retrievesa facility such as a restaurant in the vicinity of the retrieving pointon the Internet and displays the facility on a map in an overlappingmanner. This system is intended to simply check whether there is adesired facility in the vicinity of a given position. The system mayfurther be configured to display a detailed description when the userselects a mark of a particular facility.

However, the system described above has a problem that time-consumingmanual operations and retrieval are needed to acquire information sincethe mobile communication terminal unit must access and retrieve sites onthe Internet sequentially by manual operation while the mobilecommunication terminal unit moves. Further, it is not feasible becauseit may not be safe to operate the mobile communication terminal unitcontinuously while driving. Still further, timing to acquire theinformation may often be delayed in such system.

Each of the prior art location-based information acquisition methods asdescribed above simply provides so-called landmark displaying functionthat gives notice when a predetermined destination facility approaches,or simply checks whether there is a desired type of facilities such asshops and restaurants in the neighborhood. Therefore, the informationthat is provided by the facilities and that would be updated daily ormomentarily such as “today's articles for special sale till 5:00 p.m.are . . . ” cannot be recognized automatically and quickly just prior topassing in front of the facilities. Further, in such prior art methods,it is impossible to acquire peripheral information about the area wherethe vehicle enters successively and automatically.

In view of the foregoing, This invention has been made, and it is anobject of this invention to solve the problems described above andprovide a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod that can access a desired information source by synchronizingwith behavior such as a present position or a moving bearing angle, andacquire location-based information (contents) automatically and quickly.Further, this invention provides a mobile communication terminal and anintermediation computer system for implementing such method.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

A location-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to the present invention, in which an intermediation computersystem on a network intermediates location-based information provided onthe network and a mobile communication terminal on the network acquiresthe desired location-based information that synchronizes with behaviorof the mobile communication terminal in itself by means of theintermediation, includes the steps of:

in the intermediation computer system, transmitting to the mobilecommunication terminal an information source and distribution conditionlist that associates a location on the network of an information sourcehaving the location-based information that corresponds to specificsearch conditions with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information; and

in the mobile communication terminal, verifying, for each informationsource, behavior of the mobile communication terminal against thedistribution conditions of the information source indicated in thereceived information source and distribution condition list, and thenreceiving and presenting the location-based information by accessing theverified information source.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a desired informationsource may be accessed by synchronizing with the behavior such as thepresent position or the moving bearing angle to acquire thelocation-based information (the contents) automatically quickly.

Further, a location-based information intermediation method according tothe present invention includes the step of transmitting to a mobilecommunication terminal an information source and distribution conditionlist that associates a location on a network of an information sourcehaving predetermined location-based information that corresponds tospecific search conditions with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the content server onthe network can provide the specific mobile communication terminal withdesired location-based information quickly.

Still further, a location-based information intermediation methodaccording to the present invention further includes the step of creatingthe information source and distribution condition list that correspondsto the specific search conditions by searching a database that storesbasic data that associates the location on the network of theinformation source having the location-based information with thedistribution conditions that include the distribution area of thelocation-based information.

With this configuration, there is an effect that it is possible tocreate the list that accommodates various requirements and transmit thelist to the mobile communication terminal.

Also, there is an effect that the database that is used for otherpurposes such as a content provider database and an administratordatabase may be diverted to the purpose of the intermediation support.

Still further, an intermediation computer system according to thepresent invention includes: a communicating unit for communicating witha terminal on a network; a database for storing basic data thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havinglocation-based information that is provided on the network withdistribution conditions that include a distribution area of thelocation-based information; and a processing unit for performingoperation to read the basic data that corresponds to the searchconditions from the database when the communicating unit receives searchconditions for the location-based information from the terminal,creating a information source and distribution condition list that iscomprised of the read basic data and then transmitting the basic datathrough the communicating unit to a particular mobile communicationterminal.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the intermediationcomputer system can create the list that accommodates variousrequirements and transmits the list to the mobile communicationterminal, and the content server on the network can provide theparticular mobile communication terminal with the desired location-basedinformation quickly.

Also, there is an effect that the database that is used for otherpurposes such as a content provider database and an administratordatabase may be diverted to the purpose of the intermediation support.

Still further, an intermediation computer system according to thepresent invention includes: a communicating unit for communicating witha terminal on a network; a database for storing an information sourceand distribution condition list that associates allocation on a networkof an information source having predetermined location-based informationthat is provided on the network with distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of the location-based information; and aprocessing unit for performing an operation to read the informationsource and distribution condition list that corresponds to the searchconditions from the database when the communicating unit receives searchconditions for the location-based information from the terminal and totransmit the read information source and distribution condition listthrough the communicating unit to a particular mobile communicationterminal.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the intermediationcomputer system can transmit the desired list to the mobilecommunication terminal quickly, and the content server on the networkcan provide the particular mobile communication terminal with thedesired location-based information quickly.

Still further, a location-based information acquisition method accordingto the present invention includes the steps of: receiving from outsidean information source and distribution condition list that associates alocation on a network of an information source having predeterminedlocation-based information with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information; and verifying, foreach information source, behavior of a mobile communication terminalincluding its location against the distribution conditions of theinformation source indicated in the received information source anddistribution condition list, and then receiving and presenting thelocation-based information by accessing the verified information source.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the location-basedinformation may be acquired and provided successively automatically bysynchronizing with the behavior of the mobile communication terminal andjust at the relevant position.

Still further, a location-based information acquisition method accordingto the present invention includes the steps of: requesting anintermediation computer system to provide intermediation support inconnection with predetermined location-based information while attachingsearch conditions for the location-based information provided on anetwork; receiving an information source and distribution condition listthat associates a location on a network of an information source havingthe predetermined location-based information with distributionconditions that include a distribution area of the location-basedinformation from the intermediation computer system via the network; andverifying, for each information source, behavior of a mobilecommunication terminal including its location against the distributionconditions of the information source indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list, and then receivingand presenting the location-based information by accessing the verifiedinformation source.

With this configuration there is an effect that the location-basedinformation may be acquired and provided successively automatically bysynchronizing with the behavior of the mobile communication terminal andjust at the relevant position.

Also, there is an effect that each mobile communication terminal canacquire the list that meets various requirements.

Still further, in the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention, the searchconditions are updated automatically as the mobile communicationterminal moves.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the location-basedinformation may be acquired and provided successively automatically bysynchronizing with the behavior of the mobile communication terminal andjust at the relevant position without inputting search conditions newly.

Still further, the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention further includesthe step of presenting a screen for inputting the search conditions,wherein the search conditions are specified through the inputting screento request provision of intermediation support.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the location-basedinformation may be acquired and provided successively automatically bysynchronizing with the behavior of the mobile communication terminal andjust at the relevant position.

Still further, in the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention, when the behaviorof the mobile communication terminal including a location thereof isverified against the distribution conditions indicated in theinformation source and distribution condition list for each informationsource, if a plurality of information sources that conforms to oneanother is found, the location-based information of the plurality ofinformation sources is displayed on a plurality of screens, and at thesame time, which plurality of screens is displayed so that it can beviewed simultaneously.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the information fromthe plurality of information sources may be acquired and the displayingscreen may be more obvious for the user.

Still further, a mobile communication terminal according to the presentinvention includes: a communicating unit for communicating with aninformation source having location-based information; a processing unitfor verifying, for each information source, behavior including itslocation against distribution conditions indicated in an informationsource and distribution condition list that associates a location on anetwork of an information source having predetermined location-basedinformation that is input from outside with the distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of the location-based information, andfor accessing the verified information source via the communicationunit; and a presenting unit for presenting the location-basedinformation that is received from the information source.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be provided wherein the mobile communicationterminal can acquire and provide the location-based informationsuccessively automatically by synchronizing with the behavior of themobile communication terminal and just at the relevant position.

Still further, a mobile communication terminal of the present inventionincludes: a communicating unit for communicating with an intermediationcomputer system on a network and information source havinglocation-based information; a processing unit for verifying, for eachinformation source, own behavior including its location againstdistribution conditions indicated in an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on a network ofan information source having predetermined location-based informationthat is input via the network with the distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of the location-based information and foraccessing the verified information source via the communicating unit;and a presenting unit for presenting the location-based information thatis received from the information source, wherein the processing unitincludes a means for requesting an intermediation computer system toprovide the information source and distribution condition list about thepredetermined location-based information while attaching searchconditions for the location-based information provided on the network.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be provided wherein the mobile communicationterminal can acquire and provide the location-based informationsuccessively automatically by synchronizing with the behavior of themobile communication terminal and just at the relevant position.

Also, there is an effect that each mobile communication terminal canacquire the list that meets various requirements.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention updates the search conditionsautomatically and requests provision of the information source anddistribution condition list as the mobile communication terminal moves.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the location-basedinformation may be acquired successively automatically by synchronizingwith the behavior of the mobile communication terminal and just at therelevant position without inputting search conditions newly.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention requests provision of intermediationsupport by specifying the search conditions through an input screen forinputting the search conditions.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the desiredlocation-based information may be acquired and provided successively andautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting an information source and distributioncondition list concerning predetermined location-based information whenreceiving a request to transmit such information source and distributioncondition list with the specific search conditions from any clientcomputer via the network.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the content server onthe network can provide the specific mobile communication terminal withthe location-based information in response to the request from anyclient on the network.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting to the mobile communication terminalan information source and distribution condition list concerning asearch-target area defined by a search center position and rangeinformation specified along with the search center position orpredetermined range information when the search-target area is specifiedas the search conditions and the search-target area is defined at leastby the search center position.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a burden to the mobilecommunication terminal may be alleviated. More specifically, there is aneffect that the mobile communication terminal can perform a procedurefor specifying the search-target area or data calculation relativelyeasily by specifying the range to be searched by the center position,therefore waste of computation, memory and communication resources maybe minimized.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting to the mobile communication terminalan information source and distribution condition list that is created byexcluding the search result based upon the previous search conditionsfrom the search result based upon the present search conditions when asearch-target area is specified as the search conditions and a pluralityof the search-target area is input successively.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a burden to the mobilecommunication terminal may be alleviated. More specifically, there is aneffect that the mobile communication terminal does not have to receivethe information source that is included in the search-target rangespecified at the previous time twice. Also, there is an effect that anamount of data transferred via the network may not increaseunnecessarily.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of terminating a search if the number of informationsources in the acquired information source and distribution conditionlist exceeds a predetermined upper limit when the information source anddistribution condition list corresponding to the search conditions issearched and created, or expanding a search-target area if the number ofthe information sources in the acquired information source anddistribution condition list is less than a predetermined lower limit.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the appropriate numberof the information sources may be provided.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the steps of searching a route from the present position to adestination of the mobile communication terminal and transmitting to themobile communication terminal the information sources and distributioncondition list along the route shown by the searched route informationwhen the present position and the destination are specified as thesearch conditions.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the information sourceand distribution condition list for a wide range up to the destinationand its vicinity may be provided.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of expressing a shared portion of characters, figuresor symbols that are representative of an information'source ordistribution conditions and transmitting only an unshared portioncorrespondingly and in a separate manner when the characters, figures orsymbols have the shared portion with regard to either the informationsource or the distribution conditions in the step of transmitting theinformation source and distribution condition list.

With this configuration, there is an effect that an amount oftransferred data as well as time and costs for communication may bereduced.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of billing a provider of predetermined contentsdepending either upon whether a registered terminal has accessed thepredetermined contents, or upon the number of access by the registeredterminal to the predetermined contents.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a predetermined chargemay be billed from the content providers who expect a profit byproviding mobile communication terminals in a distribution area withcontents.

Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of billing a registered terminal depending upon thenumber of access in which the registered terminal has received theinformation source and distribution condition list.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a predetermined chargemay be billed from the client or the mobile communication terminal userthat utilizes the location-based information or the intermediationservice to provide the location-based information.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a search-target area as thesearch conditions and updates the search-target area automatically asthe mobile communication terminal moves.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the search-target areamay be updated automatically and new lists may be received successivelyas the mobile communication terminal moves and without inputting thesearch-target area newly.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a particular search-targetarea as the search conditions and specifies the particular search-targetarea through an input screen.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the list for theparticular search-target area may be acquired at any point of time andin that the mobile communication terminal may access the informationsource and present the information when it enters the distribution areaof the information source contained in the list, therefore the necessarylocation-based information may be acquired at the optimal positionautomatically.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a particular type of thelocation-based information as the search conditions and specifies theparticular type of the location-based information through an inputscreen.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be acquired the list for acquiring thelocation-based information that-is restricted in the particular type atany point.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies its own present positionand destination as the search conditions through an input screen.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the information sourceand distribution condition list may be obtained for a wide range up tothe destination and its vicinity in advance.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies the search-target area atleast by a search center position.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a procedure forspecifying the search-target area or data calculation may be relativelysimple and therefore waste of computation, memory and communicationresources may be minimized.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a new search-target areathat is an area where the mobile communication terminal should reach bymoving a predetermined distance according to a moving history of themobile communication terminal.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the list of theinformation source that belongs to the area to which the mobilecommunication terminal is likely to move in a restricted manner.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for altering a size of a search-target area according to thenumber of the information sources in the information source anddistribution condition list that has been received on or before theprevious time and specifying the size of the search-target area as thesearch conditions for the next search.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the information sourceand distribution condition list having the more suitable number of theinformation sources may be acquired at the present time if the too manyor too little number of the information sources was acquired at theprevious time.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for specifying a new search-target area as the search conditionsand requesting the information source and distribution condition listbefore the present position of the mobile communication terminal leavesthe search-target area that has been specified at the previous time.

With this configuration, there is an effect that a possibility that theinformation about the information source to be acquired is lost may bereduced.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for specifying the search-target area at the present time and thesearch-target area at the previous time as the search conditionssimultaneously.

With this configuration, there is an effect that it is not necessary toreceive the information source that has been included in the search areaspecified at the previous time again. Also, there is an effect that itis not necessary to increase an amount of data transferred via thenetwork uselessly.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes a navigation unit,wherein the processing unit further includes means for specifying thesearch-target area along a route indicated by route information that hasretrieved by a destination as the search conditions and requesting theintermediation computer system to provide intermediation support forpredetermined location-based information.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the information sourceand distribution condition list for a more appropriate range may beacquired and the number of issue of the search requests may be reduced.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for predicting a position of the mobile communication terminalbased upon a moving history of the mobile communication terminal andthen initiating access to the information source that corresponds todistribution conditions in the information source and distributioncondition list when the predicted position conforms to any of thedistribution conditions.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information source inadvance in consideration of the predicted position corresponding to themoving speed of the mobile communication terminal, and therefore thecorresponding location-based information may be presented in a timelyfashion.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for predicting a position of the mobile communication terminalbased upon a moving history of the mobile communication terminal andsimultaneously altering the position to be predicted depending upon adata size of the location-based information, and then initiating accessto the information source that corresponds to any of distributionconditions in the information source and distribution condition listwhen the altered predicted position conforms to the distributionconditions.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information source inadvance for the predicted position according to the data size, andtherefore the corresponding location-based information may be presentedin a timely fashion.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon the data size of the location-based information,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against the altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information sourceaccording to the data size, and therefore the correspondinglocation-based information may be presented in a timely fashion.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon a moving speed of the mobile communication terminal,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against the altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information sourceaccording to the moving speed of the mobile communication terminal, andtherefore the corresponding location-based information may be presentedin a timely fashion.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes means for definingan expanded distribution area by expanding the distribution area for thelocation-based information in the information source and distributioncondition list, and initiating access to the information source thatcorresponds to the expanded distribution area if the position of themobile communication terminal conforms to the expanded distributionarea, or presenting the location-based information of the informationsource if the present position of the mobile communication terminalconforms to the distribution position before extension.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may present the location-based information in atimely manner.

Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes means for allowingthe acquired location-based information to be overwritable by releasingthe acquired location-based information from a memory when the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal leaves the expandeddistribution area.

With this configuration, there is an effect that the buffer memory forstoring the contents may be released and utilized efficiently, andmoreover, it is not necessary to receive the contents repeatedly whenthe mobile communication terminal enters the distribution area twice.

Still further, in the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention, the processing unit further includesmeans for verifying, for each information source, behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal including its location against the distributionconditions of the information source indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list, and accessing theinformation source that conforms to the distribution conditions if thebehavior conforms to the distribution conditions and the location-basedinformation is not stored in a memory for such purpose.

With this configuration, there is an effect that it is not necessary toaccess the information source the location-based information of which isalready stored many times wastefully successively.

Still further, another mobile communication terminal according to thepresent invention includes an input screen for issuing a request fortransmission of a program to an application server on a network, whichprogram being executed for receiving an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on the network ofan information source having predetermined location-based informationwith distribution conditions that include a distribution area of thelocation-based information, verifying, for each information source,behavior including a location of the mobile communication terminalagainst the distribution conditions indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list; and means forinitiating the program after receiving the program.

With this configuration, there is an effect that an application programmay be downloaded and executed at any time as needed so that the limitedmemory resources in the mobile communication terminal may be used forvarious uses including the application programs. Also, there is aneffect that the functions of the mobile communication terminal may beadded/modified arbitrarily.

Still further, in the above described location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to the presentinvention, the intermediation computer system transmits distributionbearing angle information that limits a moving direction of the mobilecommunication terminal as one of the distribution conditions in theinformation source and distribution condition list to the mobilecommunication terminal, and the mobile communication terminal verifiesthe moving direction of the mobile communication terminal against thedistribution bearing angle in the information source and distributioncondition list, accesses the information source that conforms to thedistribution conditions to receives the location-based information forpresentation.

With this configuration, there is an effect that it is not necessary toaccess the location-based information that is not intended fordistribution wastefully.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network system according to alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing operations of a mobile communicationterminal, an intermediation computer system and a content server in thelocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the mobile communication terminalaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the intermediation computer systemaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information source anddistributing conditions basic data according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an information source anddistributing condition list according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing operations of an authentication serveraccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing timing determination criteria whenrequesting the information source and distributing condition listcontinuously, and an operational algorithm for a radius and a centerposition of a search-target area requested at the present time accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing operations for providing contents in thecontent server according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart showing S52 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user data file according tothe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of a mobile communicationterminal in a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod of a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing operations of an application server in anintermediation computer system according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of dynamic search criteriaaccording to a third embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing operation of a mobile communicationterminal and an intermediation computer system in a location-basedinformation intermediation and acquisition method of a fifth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a billing process in a location-basedinformation intermediation and acquisition method of an eleventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a billing process in a location-basedinformation intermediation and acquisition method of a twelfthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing another operation of the mobilecommunication terminal in the location-based information intermediationand acquisition method of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an exemplary indication of a plurality ofcontents in the mobile communication terminal according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing another exemplary indication of a pluralityof contents in the mobile communication terminal according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a diagram of assistance in explaining a prediction vectoraccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a diagram of assistance in explaining a distribution areaaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 23 is a diagram of assistance in explaining timing to present thelocation-based information and timing to release the acquiredlocation-based information from a memory according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network system according to alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of thefirst embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showingoperations of a mobile communication terminal, an intermediationcomputer system and a content server in the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method of the first embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the mobilecommunication terminal according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the intermediationcomputer system according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 1, there are shown a portable mobile communication terminal 1having position detecting means, or a navigation unit having networkconnecting means, an intermediation computer system 2, a packet exchangemobile communication terminal network 3 a, the Internet or an intranet 3b, the content server 4, an application server 5, and a client computer6. In FIG. 3, there are shown a CPU 10, a ROM 11, positioning means 12such as a GPS receiver and the like, communicating means 13 comprising adata card and a packet communicating mobile telephone, external storagemeans 14 such as transportable memory, a RAM 15, inputting means 16 suchas a key switch, a touch panel, a remote control unit, a microphone, avoice recognition unit and the like, and presenting means 17 comprisinga display unit, a beeper, an amplifier, a loudspeaker, a lamp, avibrator, a control unit and the like. In FIG. 4, there are shown a mailserver 20 (for the intranet), a client computer 21, a web server 22 (forthe intranet), a database management server 23, an application server,24, an authentication server 25, an information source and distributingcondition list server 26, a mail server 27, a web server 28, a firewall29 (a proxy server), routers 30 and 36, networks 31, 32, 33 and 35, anda billing server 34.

Here, it is to be noted that elements shown in dotted boxes are notnecessarily needed in the first embodiment. Also, it is to be noted thatthe content server 4 may be included in the intermediation computer, asshown by a dotted line in FIG. 2.

In the network system shown in FIG. 1, when the intermediation computersystem 2 receives any request from any client, that is to say, anymobile communication terminal 1, or any client computer 6 on theInternet/intranet, it proceeds, as shown in FIG. 2, from a requestwaiting state Step 30 (S30) to a request decoding step S31, and then,depending upon a request decoding result, executes S32 for a menu screenrequest, S33 for a password screen request, S34 for a userauthentication request, or S35 for a static search criteria (unchangingsearch criteria) registration request. More specifically, in S32, themenu screen is sent to the requesting party (that is the mobilecommunication terminal in this example), and in S33, an input screen fora user ID and a password is sent to the requesting party. In S34, theuser ID and the password is verified against a user data file, and ifmatched, the user is authenticated and then a session ID is registeredin the session ID data file and a static search criteria setting screenis sent (issued) with the session ID to the requesting party. In 535,the request is checked whether it is authorized or not by referring thesession ID data file and simultaneously the static search criteria areregistered in a static search criteria part in the user data file, and aresponse indicating that the static search criteria has been registeredis sent to the requesting party.

In FIG. 2, a specific mobile communication terminal 1 logs in to anetwork in S1. More specifically, for example, an action such as dialupconnection and password sending to the packet exchange mobilecommunication terminal network 3 a is executed to ensure connection to awireless line or a higher protocol network.

In S2, via the network, a URL (a residing location) of a specificintermediation computer system 2 is specified and the menu screen isrequested from a screen data (web) server 28 of the intermediationcomputer system 2 to receive and display the menu screen in an HTMLformat. When the user selects any other service in such menu via aninputting means 16, a process for the other service S3 is executed. Whenany service item pertinent to the present invention is selected, theinput screen for the user ID and the password is requested to theintermediation computer system 2 in S10 and the input screen for theuser ID and the password is received.

In S11, the user ID and the password that have been registered-in theuser data file of the intermediation computer system 2 in advance forsuch service are sent to the intermediation computer system 2.

In the screen data server 28 of the intermediation computer system, asdescribed above, in S34, the request is checked (authenticated) whetherit comes from an authorized mobile communication terminal (a user) bycomparing its user ID and password with ones in the user data file, andif authenticated, the session ID is issued and registered in the sessionID data file, and on the other hand, a notification of registrationcompletion (service provision permission) is sent to the requestingparty. Also, a static search criteria setting screen is sent (issued) tothe requesting party with the session ID.

In S12, static search criteria such as a type (a category) oflocation-based information that is desired to acquire in the staticsearch criteria selecting screen sent by the intermediation computersystem 2 are configured by the user and sent to the screen data server28 of the intermediation computer system 2.

In the intermediation computer system 2, as described above, in S35, thesession ID is authenticated and the static search criteria configured bythe user is registered in the static search criteria part in the userdata file. Further, the dynamic search criteria (changing searchcriteria) setting screen is sent to the requesting party.

In S13, the latest position of the mobile communication terminal isdetected.

In S14, it is checked whether it is a first-time request for the dynamicsearch criteria after startup, or it is a request on and after thesecond time and outside the range specified by the previous requestedsearch criteria. If it is a first-time request or a request outside therange of the previous requested search criteria, new dynamic searchcriteria are set and sent to the information source and distributingcondition list server 26 of the intermediation computer system 2 in S15.If it is the first-time request after startup, certain fixed searchcriteria, or search criteria specified at the last termination (storedin a flash memory, not shown) is set, and if it is the request on andafter the second time, search criteria determined depending upon thesearch result on the last or previous time(s) are set (that will bedescribed in detail later). In either case, the session ID is sentsimultaneously.

When the information source and distributing condition list server 26 ofthe intermediation computer system 2 receives the service request, itproceeds from a request waiting state (S50) to S51 wherein the requestis checked (authenticated) whether it comes from the authorized user ornot. If authenticated, in S52, the information source and distributingcondition list is created and sent to the mobile communication terminal.The information source and distributing condition list relates toinformation sources having location-based information that satisfiesboth the static and dynamic search criteria and lists a series ofdistribution area information that indicates where the location-basedinformation is distributed or consulted, for example, a distributioncenter position (coordinates or latitude and longitude) and adistribution radius, distribution true bearing angle information thatindicates in which moving direction the distribution to the mobilecommunication terminal is effective, and the like, which is associatedwith residing locations of the information sources on the network. Theinformation source and distributing condition list is created from theinformation source and distributing conditions basic data file bypreliminarily editing information source and distributing conditionsbasic data based upon location-based information (contents) possessed bythe content server 4 according to its category and so on in a basic datacreating system in the content server 4 on the network (S90), and thenuploading the information source and distributing conditions basic datato the information source and distributing conditions basic data file ofthe intermediation computer system 2 (S91) and selecting or retrievingspecific information source and distributing conditions basic datasatisfying the search criteria in the information source anddistributing conditions basic data file (the retrieving and creatingprocedure will be described later in detail). The information source anddistributing conditions basic data file is data that associates eachinformation source with its residing location on the network anddistributing conditions, an example of which is shown in FIG. 5.Further, an example of a resulting information source and distributingcondition list is shown in FIG. 6. When such information source anddistributing condition list is transmitted in S52, it is typicallyencoded to a XML format, Alternatively, it may be encoded to any formatincluding an extendible tag format, such as an HTML format and a CHTMLformat.

Here, the user authentication by the session ID in S51 is performed inS35 for the intermediation computer system by sending an authenticationrequest to the authentication server 25 of the intermediation computersystem 2. In this case, in the authentication server 25, for example, aprocess as shown in a flowchart of FIG. 7 is performed.

Further, when the information source and distributing condition listserver and the application server are disposed in a location differentfrom the server comprising the user data file and the session ID datafile in a distributed manner, in other words, when these servers aremanaged/provided by other providers, or when access to these servers ischarged and the like, the user authentication by the session ID may bealso utilized to check the user's authority. As such, it is to beunderstood that there is no need to dispose each server in theintermediation computer system centrally, but it may be disposed in adistributed manner.

Here, a case wherein search conditions on and after the second time areset in S14 and S15 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. In FIG.8, assume that a search-target area is specified as the dynamic searchconditions, and more specifically, such search-target area is specifiedby a circular search area defined by a search center position and asearch radius.

Determination in S14 (determination whether it is beyond the searchconditions specified at the previous time or not) is shown in the“Determination criteria for requesting timing at present time” box inFIG. 8. More specifically, if the distance ΔX₁ between the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal and the search centerposition specified as the search conditions at the previous time (shownas the search center position requested at the previous time), and thedistance ΔX₂ defined similarly at the second previous time are bothbeyond the search radius (shown as the requested search radius)specified together with the search center position multiplied by k (forexample, k=0.8), the request is determined to be out of the searchconditions and the process proceeds to S15, where new search conditionsare transmitted. The new search conditions specify a new search-targetarea that is an area where the mobile communication terminal shouldreach by moving a predetermined distance according to the moving historyof the mobile communication terminal. When the search-target area isspecified by the search center position, the specific search centerposition included in the new dynamic search conditions set in S15 isshown in the “Search position requested at present time” box in FIG. 8and the radius of the search-target circle is shown in the “Searchradius R₁ requested at present time” box in FIG. 8. More specifically,assuming that the mobile communication terminal reaches the presentposition that is beyond the range within the distance R_(i-1) multipliedby k from the point requested at the previous time, a position that maybe reached by advancing by Ri in the same direction is defined as thesearch center position requested at the present time. On the other hand,the search radius Ri requested at the present time may be defineddifferently depending upon the number of the information sources N inthe information source and distribution condition list that has beenreceived on or before the previous time; for example, if N is smallerthan 2, the search radius R_(i) requested at the present time should betwice as large as the search radius R_(i-1) requested at the previoustime; if N is larger than a predetermined maximum value N_(max), R_(i)should be half the search radius Ri_(i-1) requested at the previoustime; and if N is a value between 2 and N_(max), R_(i) should be same asthe search radius R_(i-1) requested at the previous time.

Here, it is to be noted that an expression for the distance between thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal and the centerposition of the search range requested at the previous time is shown inthe leftmost column in FIG. 8, and symbols representing the search rangeat the previous and second previous times and the present position arespecified in the tables at the lower-left side in FIG. 8.

Further, though it is assumed here that the next search is automaticallyrequested on the basis of the previous search range before the mobilecommunication terminal leaves the search-target area specified at theprevious time, the search may be alternatively requested by specifyingthe search center position manually unconditionally.

Next, in S16, an information source and distribution condition list(hereinafter referred to as a “list” except specific cases)corresponding to the search conditions newly input in S15 is receivedand stored in the memory.

In S17, it is checked whether or not the mobile communication terminallies within the distribution conditions. More specifically, it ischecked whether the mobile communication terminal is situated within thedistribution area specified by the distribution conditions in the storedlist, and whether the moving direction of the mobile communicationterminal (calculated from positional transition, for example) issubstantially equal (a difference is within ±30 degrees, for example) tothe distribution direction specified in the distribution conditions (thetrue bearing angle that indicates which direction the information sourceis effective for mobile communication terminals, for example). Here, itis to be noted that the distribution bearing angle may be preset and maynot be checked when the mobile communication terminal moves slowly suchas in walking. Alternatively, it is possible that the distributionbearing angle is not checked unconditionally.

It is useful to check the moving direction and the distribution bearingangle as described above, for example, when the mobile communicationterminal is moving on a road having a median strip where it is uselessor even hazardous to provide the location-based information about theopposite lane, and so on. In this case, such checking may be utilized sothat, for example, the moving direction check becomes effectivesynchronously when the moving speed of the mobile communication terminalexceeds a predetermined average speed, or in a preliminary setting ofthe static search conditions, the user may be registered not as apedestrian but as in a vehicle, wherein the information about theopposite lane is not provided. Further, the moving direction check maybe also applied to the case when the information that is senseless oreven hazardous for the vehicle moving in the opposite direction, such assignposting. Still further, the moving direction check may be useful forproviding location-based information different from one for the oppositelane only when the user passes a specific position on a specific road.

If the position of the mobile communication terminal lies within thedistribution conditions in S17, the mobile communication terminalascertains that the location (typically the URL) of the informationsource on the network corresponding to the distribution conditions isnot identical to the previous URL, and then receives the location-basedinformation in the above specific information source that resides in thespecific content server 2 on the network by designating the URL by meansof a browser and the like. More specifically, in response to the contentrequest from the mobile communication terminal, the specific contentserver 2 on the network decodes the request and authenticates thesession ID in S41. In S42, the content server 2 transmits thelocation-based information in the specific information source possessedby itself. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of contentdistributing services in the content server 4 including a step ofrequesting the authentication of the session ID to the authenticationserver.

In S19, the location-based information is reproduced and presented byusing an application corresponding to a file type used by the receivedlocation-based information either directly or indirectly, such as, forexample, a web browser for an HTML file, a content player for a VRMLfile, and a content viewer for an MPEG file.

Here, if the mobile communication terminal is a navigation unit type, adisplay is switched partially or completely from the navigation mapscreen that has been shown till then to the location-based informationscreen. On the other hand, in the case of a cellular phone type mobilecommunication terminal, a ringer tone or a vibration may be generated tonotify the reception. Further, if the mobile communication terminal doesnot have the suitable content player or content viewer, it accesses aspecific application server to download such application for use.

In S20, it is checked whether the service should beterminated/continued, or the static search conditions should be altered(by the user's manipulation), and if the user wishes the termination ofthe service, the process from S11 to S21 is terminated. If the userwishes the continuance of the service, the process proceeds to S13, andif the user wishes the alteration of the search conditions, the processproceeds to S12.

An example of the search condition alteration shown in S20 includes atable of contents titles and a specified categorical hierarchy in theinformation source resulting from the previous search, and a table ofcategorical classification in the next lower hierarchy, in which theuser can select a specific category by using any input means, forexample a voice recognition means.

In this case, if the static search conditions are altered to limit thenumber of the information source in S20, it may be preferable to expandthe search range to compensate for such limitation.

If it is determined that the mobile communication terminal is situatedbeyond the distribution conditions in the S17, the process proceeds toS22, wherein the information source corresponding to such distributionconditions is not accessed. On the other hand, if the location-basedinformation of the corresponding information source has been alreadyaccessed and the location-based information is presented, it isdetermined that the mobile communication terminal has already passed thedistribution area, and therefore the presentation of the location-basedinformation is terminated and any screen is displayed instead of suchlocation-based information. For example, if the mobile communicationterminal is mainly intended for navigation, a screen for a navigationalmap is presented. In the case of the voice-announcing type mobilecommunication terminal, background music is played, for example. In suchcase, suitable data files are loaded into the memory, and correspondingdata reproduction programs such as a player and viewer are executed.Till the next location-based information is received, a mode thatreserves the previous screen may be alternatively selected.

Here, if the mobile communication terminal lies in a plurality ofdistribution conditions in S17, the information source corresponding toeither distribution conditions where the mobile communication terminalentered first or checked first may be typically accessed and presentedfirst. Then, after a predetermined time period has passed, the nextinformation source may be accessed, and succeeding information sourcesmay be similarly accessed and presented one after another. In such case,there is a possibility that the presented contents may be changed to thenext contents though the user still cannot grasp the contentssufficiently, links to each of the presented contents may be stored solong as the image storing memory can afford to store them so that theuser can go back to ascertain the presented contents. Then, the user canreturn to any previous step by manipulating the return button on the webbrowser, for example, to ascertain the contents of the location-basedinformation.

As an alternative, when the mobile communication terminal lies in aplurality of the distribution conditions in S17, a title list of thelocation-based information in the plurality of the information sourcesmay be displayed. The user may select any title in the displayed titlelist to access the corresponding information source and then thelocation-based information may be displayed. In such case; the titlecorresponding to each information source may be added to the contents ofthe information source and distribution condition list.

As another alternative, when the mobile communication terminal lies in aplurality of the distribution conditions in S17, according to a processflowchart as shown in FIG. 18, for example, the plurality of theinformation sources may be accessed simultaneously in parallel, or thedisplay screen may be rearranged according to the number of access sothat the plurality of the location-based information from the pluralityof the information sources can be readily seen. That is to say, theplurality of the location-based information of the plurality of theinformation sources may be displayed on a plurality of the screensseparately, and at the same time, the plurality of the screens may bedisplayed to be viewed together at a time. In each process step shown inFIG. 18, S21 a, S1000, S13 a, S22 a, S2000 and S3000 shown in bold boxesare mainly different from the process described with reference to FIG.2. More specifically, these process steps in FIG. 18 differ from thosein FIG. 2 mainly in that: a verification engine part that is a programto verify the behavior of the mobile communication terminal against thedistribution conditions of the information source and distributioncondition list is separated as an independent program; the program isinitiated in S1000; when the information sources to be accessed appearone after another, the verification engine activates access tasksconsecutively for each information source in S2000; the verificationengine controls a size, a displayed position, an overlay and so on ofthe screens for the location-based information received in each of theactivated access task in S2000; and the like.

Here, a process shown in FIG. 18 will be described focusing on the stepsshown in bold boxes. When the information source and distributioncondition list is received and stored in S16, the verification engine isactivated if it has not been activated in S2000.

The verification engine detects behavior of the terminal such as aposition, a bearing angle and the like (S13 a), and verifies thebehavior against each distribution condition in the information sourceand distribution condition list (S17). If the behavior matches up withthe distribution conditions, the process of S2000 is executed.

In S2000, if the information source that corresponds to the distributionconditions has not been accessed, the information source is added to atask management table correspondingly. An information source access task(typically a browser) is activated wherein the browser is configured todisplay screens of a predetermined size in a predetermined positionaccording to the number of tasks in the task management table. Then, thescreen size and arrangement of the activated browser is reconfigured.

When the behavior does not match up with the distribution conditions inS17, if the corresponding access task (the browser) is active, the taskis terminated. If active tasks remain, they are rearranged according toa predetermined rule. FIG. 19 and FIG. 20 show an example of the rule todetermine the relationship between the number of images and therearrangement pattern. FIG. 19A and FIG. 20A each show an example forone screen, FIG. 19B and FIG. 20B each show an example for two screens,and FIG. 19C and FIG. 20C each show an example for three screens.

If each information source to be presented is different from the onepresented previously, the information source access task (the browser)accesses the information source to receive the location-basedinformation (S18) and further activates the viewer or the player todisplay the received screen in the position specified by theverification engine as needed (S19). In S3000, after the screen isdisplayed, the process is terminated in response to the terminationcontrol S22 a from the verification engine.

Here, it is to be noted that a plurality of the information access tasks(the browsers) may be activated when a plurality of information sourcesshould be accessed simultaneously in parallel.

Further, in FIG. 18, a session termination request is issued to theserver and the verification engine as well as the access task isterminated.

As an alternative, though an example to start/terminate the browser inS2000 is shown in this example, it is to be noted that a plurality ofthe browsers may be activated in advance so that properties such as adisplay screen size, arrangement and visible/invisible for each browsermay be altered as described above.

As another alternative, when displaying the screen, all titles includedin the list may be displayed as shown in FIGS. 19A to 19C and FIGS. 20Ato 20C. At this time, if a distribution position of the informationsource corresponding to the selected title does not coincide with thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal, such informationmay be accessed compulsorily by selecting the corresponding titlemanually.

FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of S52 shown in FIG. 2. In this figure,a search hit number counter and the information source and distributioncondition list are cleared in S70. The first record of the informationsource and distribution conditions basic data file is selected to bechecked in S71. Then, it is checked whether the static search conditionsfor the corresponding user in the user data file such as, for example,the category of the search conditions the user desires shown in FIG. 11coincide with the contents of the first record in S72. If so, then it ischecked whether the dynamic search conditions are satisfied, morespecifically, for example, whether the search range includes thedistribution position of the first record, or whether the search rangeoverlaps with the distribution region in S73. If all the conditions aresatisfied, it is determined that the search has hit, and then the hitnumber counter is incremented in S74. Then, the URLs and distributionconditions of the information source in the record that has been hit areadded to the information source and distribution condition list in S75.In S76, it is checked whether the hit number exceeds a predeterminedupper limit, and if exceeds, the search is suspended and the processproceeds to S81. If the hit number does not exceed the predeterminedupper limit in 576, it is checked whether all the records have beenchecked in S77. If not, the next record is selected to be checked inS78, and the process is repeated from S72 in the same manner. Here, ifthe conditions are not satisfied in S72 and S73, the record should notbe added to the list, and therefore the process bypasses the steps fromS74 to S76 and proceeds to S77. If the determination result is YES inS77, it is checked whether the hit number is less than a predeterminedlower limit in S79. If it is less than the lower limit, the search rangeis expanded by m (for example, m=2) times in S80. Then, the process fromS71 is similarly executed as described above. On the other hand, if itis not less than the lower limit in S79, the process proceeds to S81,where the acquired information source and distribution condition list isencoded and sent to the requesting party.

As described above, the intermediation computer system has an effectthat it does not have to increase a search volume that consumes searchresources and time indiscriminately by suspending the search when thenumber of the information sources searched according to the searchconditions exceeds a predetermined upper limit. On the other hand, themobile communication terminal has an effect that it does not have toreceive a large amount of information about sources that consumestelecommunication resources and costs unnecessarily.

Further, there is an effect that the appropriate number of theinformation sources can always be acquired by expanding thesearch-target area if the number of information sources that have beensearched according to the search conditions is less than the apredetermined lower limit.

Here, in S52, it is to be noted that if any plurality of the informationsources and distribution condition lists have already been filed in thedatabase of the intermediation computer system, a particular list thatmeets the search conditions may be selected from the plurality of thelists and transmitted to the requesting party.

Still further, in S17 of FIG. 2, when it is checked whether the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal lies within thedistribution conditions of the acquired list, the predicted positionthat is predicted based upon the moving history of the mobilecommunication terminal may be used instead of its present position.Here, such predicted position will be described with reference to FIG.21. In FIG. 21, when the present position of the mobile communicationterminal is designated as A and the moving velocity vector of the mobilecommunication terminal is designated as V, and it is assumed that themobile communication terminal continues to move at a speed of V after apredetermined time of T seconds has passed, the predicted position B iscalculated by adding a predicted moving vector V·T to the presentposition A and then it is checked whether the predicted position B lieswithin the distribution conditions (the distribution area) of the list.Typically, an actual time (that corresponds to the data transfer time)before the location-based information in the content server is displayedafter it has been accessed is acquired by measurement and used as thepredetermined time T. If the mobile communication terminal has alreadycalculated the velocity vector for other purpose and holds it, it may beused here as it is. If only the present position is detected, thevelocity vector is acquired by dividing the difference distance betweenthe present position and the stored past position by the elapsed timefor such movement.

As described above, by using the predicted moving vector V·T, the mobilecommunication terminal has an effect that the access to the informationsource may be initiated in advance in consideration of the predictedmoving vector so that the corresponding location-based information maybe presented with appropriate timing.

Still further, in S17 of FIG. 2, when it is checked whether the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal lies within thedistribution conditions of the acquired list, the predicted position Cthat also depends on the data size may be calculated instead of itspresent position A for optimal presentation as shown in FIG. 21. In S17,the mobile communication terminal determines a distribution area with amargin (designated as D in FIG. 21) by multiplying a listed value (forexample, a distribution radius) specified in the list (or, if it is notspecified in the list, a predetermined value) of the distribution areain the distribution conditions for each information source in the listby any or a predetermined value one by one, then checks whether eitherthe predicted position B or the present position A lies within the area.If so, the mobile communication terminal obtains size information of thecorresponding contents (the location-based information) viatelecommunication means for servers first. In this case, after themobile communication terminal ascertains that the location (typicallythe URL, in other words; a particular HTML file or an image file and soon at the content server address) is not identical to the previous URL,only header information of the contents is specified first by means of arequest line of the browser and the length of the contents in thereceived header information (that corresponds to the data size of thecontents) is checked. Then, the predicted position depending upon thecontent size C is calculated according to the data size of the contents.Next, it is checked whether the predicted position C lies within thedistribution area of the corresponding contents (that is designated as Ein FIG. 21) and if it lies within the area E, the remaining informationincluding the content data may be accessed (browsed) according to thecorresponding information about the sources in S18.

Here, it is to be noted that the predicted position C may be determinedas follows:

First, the data transfer time T′ (in seconds) may be calculated by thefollowing equation, for example, and it depends on the data size,T′=(C+D)/Rwhere,

-   C: a standard size (in bytes) of a header and so on that is    independent of contents . . . a typical value determined according    to specifications of a used protocol and the like,-   D: a content data size. (in bytes) . . . acquired by requesting the    information about the length of contents described above to the    content server, or acquired by requesting the content size    information to the intermediation computer, or acquired from the    information source and distribution condition list if the data size    information is included in the list, and-   R: a data transfer speed (in bytes/second) . . . a value    predetermined based upon statistics and the like. A GUI driver may    be installed to set the value manually.

Next, the predicted moving vector may be calculated by the followingequation using T′,S=V×T′where,

-   V (=|P_(i)−P_(i-1)|Δt): a moving velocity vector of the mobile    communication terminal (m/sec.),-   P_(i): the position of the terminal at the present time,-   P_(i-1): the position of the terminal at the previous time, and-   Δt: a time interval between detection times (sec.)

Further, the predicted position C (the coordinate P_(x)) may be acquiredby the following equation,P _(x) =P ₀ +Swhere,

-   P₀: the coordinate of the present position of the mobile    communication terminal.

Here, in the above calculation, though the predetermined value is usedas the data transfer speed R as described above, the data transfer speedmay be acquired by learning, for example, according to the followingequation using an actual value of the data transfer speed such as forcontent access and the like,R=R _(i-1)×(1−k)+r _(i) ×kwhere,

-   R_(i): a learned value of the data transfer speed,-   R_(i-1): a learned value of the data transfer speed at the previous    time,-   k: a learning coefficient (o<k<1), for example, 0.03, and-   r_(i): a recent detected value of the data transfer speed,    wherein    r _(i)=a data size/(data transfer end time−data transfer start    time).

As described above, since the predicted position may be altered inconsideration of necessary transfer time that depends on the data size,and the contents may be accessed according to the data size, there is aneffect that the mobile communication terminal can receive location-basedinformation completely by the time when the information should bepresented at the desired distribution area, so that the location-basedinformation may be presented with appropriate timing without asignificant delay.

Further, though the predicted vector is altered depending upon the datasize in the above example, the distribution area may be alteredaccording to the data size.

An example of such variant is described with reference to FIG. 22.

The intermediation computer system comprises content size informationabout each information source or alternative information such as, forexample, range-specific codes determined for each size range in theinformation source and distribution conditions basic database. Inresponse to the list request from the terminal, it sends the list withthe addition of the size information to the mobile communicationterminal (S52 in FIG. 2).

In S16 of FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal receives theinformation source and distribution condition list with the sizeinformation. Next, in S17, the distribution area is altered dependingupon the data size rather than a value specified in the list or apredetermined value, as shown in FIG. 22. For example, when the datasize is about two times larger than a predetermined reference value S,the distribution radius is defined to be twice as large as the valuespecified in the list or the predetermined value. When the data size isabout half of S, the distribution radius is defined to be half of thevalue specified in the list or the predetermined value. As shown in FIG.22, it is checked whether the velocity-dependent predicted position B orthe present position A of the terminal lies within the altereddistribution area, and if so, contents may be accessed in a way similarto the embodiment described above (S18).

Here, the value specified in the list or the predetermined value may beconsidered as the minimum or maximum value.

Further, not only the distribution area but also the predicted positionB may be altered depending upon the data size in order to use thepredicted position C described above.

As described above, since the distribution area may be altered dependingupon the data size, more specifically, the distribution area may beexpanded when the data size is large or reduced when the data size issmall, and the contents may be accessed according to the data size,there is an effect that the mobile communication terminal can receivelocation-based information completely by the time when the informationshould be presented at the distribution area so that the location-basedinformation may be presented with appropriate timing without asignificant delay.

Further, in a case where the distribution area is altered according tothe data size and the presentation is terminated when the movementoutside the distribution area is detected, there is an effect that theadequate presentation time may be ensured.

Still further, in a case where the content data size is expressed bycodes, there is an effect that the required time for preliminarycommunication may be reduced. Here, it goes without saying that thedistribution position and the position of the terminal may be expressedby particular codes.

Still further, as another case of alteration of the distribution area,the distribution area may be altered depending upon the moving velocityof the mobile communication terminal. In this case, for example, apredicted moving vector length (the absolute value of the predictedmoving vector V·T) is calculated depending upon the moving velocity ofthe mobile communication terminal, then a value of the distribution areaacquired from the information source and distribution condition list ora predetermined value of the distribution area is altered inconsideration of the predicted moving vector length, then it is checkedwhether the predicted position B or C, or the present position A lieswithin the range of the altered distribution area, and then, if so, anoperation of S18 is executed. Generally speaking, the larger thepredicted moving vector length becomes, the wider the distribution areais made.

Here, it is to be noted that the above case may be used jointly with thecase where the distribution area is altered depending upon the datasize.

With this configuration, since the distribution area is expandedaccording to the speed of the mobile communication terminal, there is aneffect that the possibility to overlook the distribution area may bereduced significantly especially when the mobile communication terminalmounted on a high-speed vehicle comes along a distribution area that isa narrow region having a radius of 10 m, and that is prepared forpedestrians.

Further, in a case where the distribution area is expanded, it ispreferred to configure the timing to present the location-basedinformation and the timing to release the acquired location-basedinformation from the memory as follows. Hereinafter, the operation willbe described with reference to FIG. 23.

When the position of the mobile communication terminal (the predictedposition B or C of the mobile communication terminal, or the presentposition A of the mobile communication terminal, the predicted positionB in FIG. 23) enters a predetermined range wider than the distributionarea (an expanded distribution area), the mobile communication terminalaccesses the corresponding information source (a point P1). A memoryspace management table for the contents is then referenced and thereceived contents (the location-based information) are stored in thememory space that is “overwritable”. In the memory space managementtable, a region corresponding to the contents (for example, a title ofthe contents) is then marked as “not overwritable”, which indicates thatsuch memory region cannot be overwritten. Here, it is to be noted thatthe contents are not displayed at least completely soon after thereception has finished. As described above, firstly, the access to theinformation source is initiated to acquire the contents a little soonerthan the present position or the predicted position enters thedistribution area (the diagonally shaded area).

Thereafter, when the present position of the mobile communicationterminal enters the original distribution area before expansion (thediagonally shaded area), the corresponding contents are presented (apoint P2).

Subsequently, when the present position of the mobile communicationterminal leaves the distribution area (the diagonally shaded area), thepresentation of the contents is terminated (a point P3).

When the mobile communication terminal moves further and the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal leaves the expandeddistribution area that is wider than the original distribution area, thememory space where the corresponding contents are stored is released andthe “not overwritable” flag is changed to the “overwritable” flag. Thisflag is utilized as information to indicate available memory space whenthe contents are received newly (a point P4). Here, the expandeddistribution area delimited by the point P4 may be either the same asthe expanded distribution area to determine the start of access at thepoint P1, or may be another expanded distribution area.

Furthermore, an expansion rate of the expanded distribution area may bealtered according to the data size and the speed of the mobilecommunication terminal described above: more specifically, thedistribution area may be expanded by the distance calculated one by oneusing the moving velocity of the mobile communication terminal and thetime required to receive not less than 95% of the content data, forexample, which is calculated based upon the actual statistical value ofthe data transfer time. Alternatively, the expanded distribution areamay be defined by expanding the original distribution area at apredetermined rate, for example, by three times.

As described above, there is an effect that the contents may bepresented with appropriate timing, since the access to thelocation-based information is initiated when the present position or thepredicted position enters the expanded distribution area, and after thecontents have been received, the received contents are presented onlywhen the present position enters the original distribution area that isnot expanded. Moreover, there is an effect that the contents may bepresented in the distribution area properly and more sophisticatedpresentation of the contents may be realized even when the contents of alarge size are received with a typically available data transfer rate.Furthermore, there is an effect that the problem wherein the base screenis concealed by the received contents before the present position entersthe distribution position may be avoided. Also, the substantialdistribution area to present the contents may be kept sufficiently smallin order to reduce the possibility that the contents are presentedsimultaneously with other contents.

Further, by utilizing such system, there is an effect that the contentsmay be presented on the terminal without delay when the contents havinginformation to control passage/stop are provided from the server so thatthe terminal may be instructed to stop in a predetermined rangeimmediately before entering the gate of a predetermined area if theterminal that would pass the predetermined area has not beenauthenticated through a communicating procedure performed separately,for example.

Still further, since the memory may be released only when the terminalleaves the expanded distribution area, there is an effect that thebuffer memory for content memory may be released and utilizedefficiently and moreover, it is no need to receive the contents againwhen the terminal enters the distribution area a second time. Morespecifically, though the prior art system that is configured to receiveand store all contents in advance must reserve an enormous amount ofmemory resources to store the contents and also receive an enormousamount of contents all of which may never be utilized in advance, theembodiment described here has an effect that it can present the contentsof the information source with less memory resources, without delay andfor a sufficiently small distribution area. Further, there is an effectconsequently that redundant and enormous contents do not have to bereceived uselessly when the user of the mobile communication terminalchanges the course or the region to which the user has planned to moveat the beginning of the movement, and the like.

Here, though there is a possibility that a multiplicity of informationsources may be accessed when the distribution area is expanded, in suchcase, when one information source must be accessed while anotherinformation source is accessed, both the information sources may beaccessed concurrently at least virtually at least till the reception iscompleted. In this case, packet communication means plays an importantrole though it is not described in detail here.

When multiple information sources may be accessed, icons with titles ofcontents or browser windows with a reduced size which are smaller thanregular content presentation windows may be displayed for each accessedinformation source side by side successively to indicate whether thereception is “in process”/“completed” etc. It allows the user to graspreceiving conditions or to manipulate the icons of the received contentsselectively, therefore there is an effect that the contents can bepresented either before reaching the distribution area or after passingit till the content memory is overwritten.

Further, small icons with titles of contents of the information sourceto be accessed may be displayed in an overlap manner (superimposed) at aplace on a navigation map display screen corresponding to thedistribution area of above information source, wherein there is aneffect that the user can readily grasp the receiving conditions andrecognize at which position the distribution area is located. Further,by displaying through the small icons or the browser windows with areduced size, there is an effect that wider displaying range of the basescreen is reserved.

As described above, according to the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method of the first embodiment, there isan effect that any of the contents provided by every content server onthe network may be utilized as the location-based information and, atthe same time, the mobile communication terminal can obtain suchlocation-based information automatically by synchronizing with itsmovement. Further, there is an effect that every content provider on thenetwork such as the Internet can deliver the location-based information.Still further, there is an effect that the mobile communication terminalcan acquire a series of the location-based information and receive thepresentation one and after automatically just at the relevant positionby synchronizing with behavior of such mobile communication terminal.

Moreover, since selection, retrieval and creation of the informationsource that would be needed in the future is made by the intermediationcomputer system in advance, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal can acquire the information source anddistribution condition list about the necessary information sources inadvance, therefore the information sources may be accessed withoutdelay.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing operations of the mobile communicationterminal in the location-based information intermediation andacquisition method of a second embodiment of the present invention.

This operation differs from the operation of the mobile communicationterminal in FIG. 2 only in that step S4 is added, and a downloadedprogram halts (ends) when a process of S21 is terminated. Other stepsare the same as those described in FIG. 2, and therefore only step S4 isdescribed here.

In the second embodiment, application programs from S10 to S22 arerequested to the application server of the intermediation computersystem, downloaded and then activated in S4. Here, before downloading,it is checked whether the programs are already possessed and thesufficient memory space is reserved to store and execute the downloadedprograms.

FIG. 13 shows an operation of the application server 24 in theintermediation computer system. The application server 24 is typicallyin a request waiting state S60, and when requested from the client, itdecodes the request (S61) and transmits applications to the requestingparty according to the request (S62). If the requesting party isauthenticated (not shown), the user is identified using the session IDas shown in the first embodiment.

As described above, there is an effect that limited memory resources ofthe mobile communication terminal may be used for various purposesincluding application programs in particular since necessary applicationprograms may be downloaded and activated on each occasion. Also, thereis an effect that functions of the mobile communication terminal may beadded/modified arbitrarily.

Here, in FIG. 12, if the mobile communication terminal does not have aprogram for reproducing a data file included in location-basedinformation received from the content server when the mobilecommunication terminal makes use of such service, the mobilecommunication terminal may similarly request the application server 24to send such program, receive and then activate the program.

With this configuration, by downloading and activating necessaryprograms on each occasion there is an effect that limited memoryresources of the mobile communication terminal may be used for variouspurposes including the data reproduction program. Also, there is aneffect that functions of the mobile communication terminal may beadded/modified arbitrarily. For example, there is an effect that sounddata files may be reproduced by a content player, and image data filesmay be reproduced by a content viewer.

Third Embodiment

In a third embodiment, various types of dynamic search conditions areexplained. The dynamic search conditions include the following types:

(1) Conditions that include at least a search center position or asearch representative position. As a specific example, the positionrefers to the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates in Japanesegeodetic system or the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates in otherspecified geodetic system and the like. In some applications, thedynamic search conditions may be three-dimensional with the addition ofaltitude. In this case, there is an effect that a problem whereinlocation-based information for the ground level is presented on themobile communication terminal situated on an elevated expressway may beavoided, for example;

(2) Conditions that include a range of a circle, a rectangle and thelike that is expressed by a distance or an (latitudinal andlongitudinal) angle relative to a search center position or a searchrepresentative position; and

(3) Conditions that include a moving direction. Such conditions are notused in most applications. Typically, the mobile communication terminaldoes not send the moving direction as one of the search conditions tothe intermediation computer system and the moving direction is checkedagainst the distribution conditions in the mobile communicationterminal. However, such search conditions may be applied in someapplications so that the moving direction of the mobile communicationterminal is sent as one of the dynamic search conditions to theintermediation computer system where, in turn, a list of items that arechecked against the moving direction is created and sent to the mobilecommunication terminal. By doing this, there is an effect that aninformation source and distribution condition list that is comprised ofminimum data from which the data concerning irrelevant directions isfiltered out may be acquired.

FIGS. 14A to 14C show examples of the three types of the dynamic searchconditions, respectively. When the search conditions are sent from themobile communication terminal to the intermediation computer system,FIG. 14A shows an example wherein a circular search range, a movingdirection of the mobile communication terminal and a contents categoryare defined as the dynamic search conditions. FIG. 14(b) shows anexample wherein a search range having a specified search center positionand a content category are defined as the dynamic search conditions, andFIG. 14(c) shows an example wherein a circular search range and a movingdirection of the mobile communication terminal are defined as thedynamic search conditions.

Fourth Embodiment

In a fourth embodiment, various types of static search conditions areexplained. Examples of the static search conditions include: conditionsconcerning a particular searched area (for example, an area around thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal, or any regionthat is, for example, specified by a place name, and the like),conditions concerning attributes of the searched items (for example, acategory, a destination, a distribution time period, and the like),condition concerning attributes of the searching party (for example,target age range, target gender, types of the searching party such as avehicle (a navigation unit) or a pedestrian, a category of business, andthe like) There may be a case wherein all conditions are included. Inthe case of the static search conditions concerning a particularsearched area, when the position of the mobile communication terminalconforms to the distribution area specified for the information source,the information source may be accessed automatically so that itslocation-based information may be presented automatically. As for thedestination, information such as a map or voice guidance to show the waythat corresponds to the destination is prepared in a given contentserver, wherein the positions forward major crossovers are defined asthe distribution center positions so that the information may bepresented when the mobile communication terminal comes along suchcrossovers. Moreover, in the case of a category such as a traintimetable, when the mobile communication terminal approaches a station,the time for departure of the several trains after the present time thatare bound for the destination may be presented in combination with areception notification signal. As for the distribution time period, itmay be used such that, for example, bargain sale information and parkingzone information may be presented only during business hours of aparticular shop. As for the attributes of the searching party such asthe target age range and the like, it functions such that only theinformation having the contents suitable for the particular searchingparty may be provided.

Here, it is to be noted that a step of transmitting the static searchconditions in S12 and a step of receiving and registering suchconditions in S35 may be omitted and a portion or all of the staticsearch conditions may be specified as the dynamic search conditions.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing operations of a mobile communicationterminal and an intermediation computer system in a location-basedinformation intermediation and acquisition method of a fifth embodimentof the present invention.

The intermediation computer system in FIG. 15 operates somewhatdifferently from that described in FIG. 2. A request is issued by anelectronic mail in S31 and as a result of decoding the text of thereceived mail, it is checked in S36 whether or not the client that hasissued the mail is registered as a subscriber of the service withreference to a client data file that corresponds to the user data filein the preceding embodiments. Once the client is authenticated,according to the particular search conditions specified by the client inthe mail text, the intermediation computer system selects, retrieves orcreates an information source and distribution condition list, and thensends the list to a particular mobile communication terminal specifiedin the mail text as an attachment of a mail in S52.

On the other hand, as for the mobile communication terminal, theoperations executed in steps S1 to S3, S13, S17 to S20, and S22 are thesame as those in FIG. 2, respectively, the description of which isomitted. Here, however, S2 shows a state wherein menu selection iswaited for after a menu screen has been request and received, or a statewherein the service for receiving the electronic mail and using serviceintermediation is selected from the menu. Once the mail is received, themail text is decoded and displayed in S5 and at the same time the userof the mobile communication terminal is asked whether the user wishesthe reception of the information source and distribution condition listby such mail, and then if the user refuses the start of the service, theprocess returns to S2. If the user selects to start the service, inS100, the information source and distribution condition list attached tothe mail is transferred to the memory that is used in the operationsfrom S13 to S22. The operations executed from S13 to S22 are similar tothose described in FIG. 2, respectively.

With this configuration, in the intermediation computer system, there isan effect that a content server on a network can provide a particularmobile communication terminal with location-based information inresponse to a request from any client on the network and at the sametime, the particular mobile communication terminal can automaticallyacquire the location-based information as required.

Here, it is to be noted that the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 15 maybe alternatively configured such that the program for the operation fromS13 to S22 may be delivered as an attachment of the mail from theintermediation computer system, and then it may be activated in S100 toexecute provision of the location-based information.

Sixth Embodiment

In a location-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to a sixth embodiment, when the mobile communication terminalis a navigation unit that is connected to the Internet via a wirelesstelecommunication network, the mobile communication terminal isconfigured to set the destination and according to route informationthat is retrieved on a map based on a map database installed therein,define points along the route as a search center position, also define aportion or all of surrounding region up to the destination as a searchregion, thereby a search-target area being set, and then issue a searchrequest to the intermediation computer system. According to suchconfiguration, there is an effect that the information source anddistribution condition list may be acquired for a more proper range andconsequently the number of issue of the search request may be reduced.

Further, also when the mobile communication terminal is a navigationunit that is connected to the Internet via a wireless telecommunicationnetwork, the mobile communication terminal may be configured to specifythe retrieved route information as the search conditions and request theintermediation computer system to provide intermediation support, andthe intermediation computer system is configured, in turn, to create theinformation source and distribution condition list corresponding to theabove search conditions and transmit it to the mobile communicationterminal. According to such configuration, there is an effect that theinformation source and distribution condition list for a wider range asfar as the vicinity of the destination may be acquired in advance.Further, there is an effect that the information source and distributioncondition list may be acquired for a more proper range and consequentlythe number of issue of the search request may be reduced.

Alternatively, when the mobile communication terminal is not anavigation unit but the intermediation computer system comprises anavigation function, the mobile communication terminal may be configuredto send its own present position and destination to the intermediationcomputer system as the search conditions, and the intermediationcomputer system is configured, in turn, to search the route from thepresent position to the destination, create the information source anddistribution condition list corresponding to the route according to theretrieved route information and send it to the mobile communicationterminal. According to such configuration, there is also an effect thatthe information source and distribution condition list may be acquiredfor a wide range as far as the destination in advance. Further, there isan effect that the information source and distribution condition listfor a more appropriate range may be acquired, though the less number ofparameters are requested from the mobile communication terminal.

Seventh Embodiment

In a location-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to a seventh embodiment, the mobile communication terminalspecifies representative point information (for example, a search centerposition) indicating a search area requested at the present time and therepresentative point information indicating the search area requested atthe previous time as the search conditions and notifies theintermediation computer system of the search conditions (and request theintermediation computer system to search the area), and theintermediation computer system, in turn, transmits the informationsource and distribution condition list created by excluding the searchresult based upon the previous search conditions from the search resultbased upon the present search conditions to the corresponding mobilecommunication terminal. More specifically, in the whole area defined bythe representative point information, the information, sources thecenter position of which is located within the range defined bysubtracting the range indicated by the previous representative pointfrom the range indicated by the present representative point may betransmitted to the requesting party, and, on the other hand, theinformation sources the center position of which is located within therange indicated by both the previous representative point and thepresent representative point in an overlapping manner may not betransmitted.

According to such configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal does not have to receive the information sourcesthat are included in the previously specified search area again.Further, there is an effect that an amount of data transferred via thenetwork may not increase unnecessarily.

Eighth Embodiment

In a step of transmitting the information source and distributioncondition list from the intermediation computer system, when characters,figures or symbols that are representative of an information source ordistribution conditions have a shared portion with regard to either theinformation source or the distribution conditions, which shared portionmay be expressed collectively and independently of unshared portion andonly the unshared portion may be transmitted correspondingly in aseparate manner. According to such configuration, there is an effectthat the shared portion in the transmitted data may be bundled togetherirrespective of the used encoding method and consequently, an amount oftransmitted data may be reduced and transfer time and transfer costs mayalso be kept low.

For example, assuming that the information sources are defined by URLs,when two URLs such as http://www.melcb.co.jp/autob/a.html andhttp://www.melco.co.jp/autob/b.html are the target information sources,the shared portion http://www.melco.co.jp/autob/may be expressedcollectively and, in turn, the unshared portion a.html and b.html may beexpressed correspondingly to the respective distribution conditions. Asdescribed above, when there are many information sources, there is aneffect that the shared portion of the transmitted data may be reducedsignificantly. With regard to the distribution conditions, when thedistribution center point is expressed in latitudinal and longitudinalcoordinates, since the higher digits of the latitude and the longitudeare always common in the same area, chances to bundle the common portionmay be very high, and here there is also an effect that an amount oftransmitted data may be reduced. More specifically, there is an effectthat data reduction by (the number of information sources—1) times maybe accomplished.

Ninth Embodiment

The mobile communication terminal according to the first embodiment isconfigured to check whether its own behavior conforms to thedistribution conditions for each information source shown in theinformation source and distribution condition list received from theintermediation computer system one by one, and, when it conforms, toaccess the information source corresponding to the distributionconditions unless the distribution conditions have been alreadyaccessed; however, when its behavior conforms to the distributionconditions, it may alternatively be configured to check whether thelocation-based information of the information source corresponding tothe distribution conditions is stored in the respective memory by usingan management table and the like, so that the mobile communicationterminal may access the information source only when the location-basedinformation is not stored. According to the above configuration, thereis an effect to avoid waste to access the same information source thathas already been stored in the memory again.

Tenth Embodiment

In a tenth embodiment, a mobile communication terminal user creates theinformation source and distribution condition list in advance by usingthe client computer other than the mobile communication terminal, orsuch client computer is configured to acquire arbitrary informationsource and distribution condition list from the intermediation computerand the like in advance, write it to a transportable memory (a memorycard) by transportable, memory writing means, read the list written inthe transportable memory by memory reading means. (not shown) on themobile communication terminal. After that, the mobile communicationterminal performs the steps just as shown in FIG. 15.

With the above configuration, when the information source anddistribution condition list has a large size, there is an effect thatsuch list may be acquired using a wired link, without wasting wirelesscommunication costs. Further, there is also an effect that, suiting thepreferences of the user, a category, distribution conditions and thelike may be altered only by interchanging the transportable memory.

Eleventh Embodiment

The intermediation computer system may alternatively be installed in agateway between a packet transmission mobile communication terminalnetwork and the Internet so that it can monitor an amount of transmittedpackets to perform billing operation depending upon the amount of thepackets and issue a billing report.

According to a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod of the eleventh embodiment, the billing server 34 in theintermediation computer system is configured to bill content providersevery time the registered mobile communication terminal (the user)accesses predetermined registered contents or according to the number ofaccess. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing operations in the eleventhembodiment. In this case, it is to be noted that the intermediationcomputer system 2 including the billing server 34 is installed at aconnection point with the mobile communication terminal network 3 a.Therefore, all mobile communication terminals (for example, packetcommunication cellular phones+GPS receivers) can access the contentserver 4 on the Internet/the intranet 3 b through this point.

In FIG. 16, first, variables are cleared in S110. In S111, it is checkedwhether or not the mobile communication terminal has accessed theregistered content servers. For example, the conformity with theregistered contents is checked by using source addresses and destinationaddresses in Internet Protocol layer, a corresponding data file of an IDnumber and an IP address of the mobile communication terminal (notshown), and the like. If the mobile communication terminal has accessedthe registered content servers, the number of access is added to a dailytotal number for each content provider (CP) in S112. In S113, it ischecked whether the time to accumulate the daily total number has come,and if the time has come, the daily total number is recorded in a chargereport file in S114. The daily total access number is then added to themonthly total access number for each content provider. In S115, it ischecked whether the time to accumulate the monthly total number hascome. In S116, a monthly total providing charge is calculated based uponthe daily access number for each content provider, and the charge reportwhere the monthly total providing charge is stated with the daily totalcharge is created and submitted to each CP, and at the same time, themonthly total providing charge is paid from the bank account or otheraccount and the monthly total is cleared.

With the above configuration, there is an effect that a predeterminedcharge may be billed from the content providers who expect a profit byproviding mobile communication terminals in a distribution area withcontents.

Twelfth Embodiment

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a method for billing the mobilecommunication terminal depending upon the number of access wherein themobile communication terminal requests and receives the informationsource and distribution condition list in the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to a twelfth embodiment.In this embodiment, the mobile communication terminal may be chargedbased upon the number of the information source and distributioncondition list received by the mobile communication terminal with theaddition of the number of access.

Though the mobile communication terminal is charged in the embodimentshown in FIG. 17, it is to be noted that the client that utilizes theintermediation service may alternatively be charged.

With the above configuration, there is an effect that a predeterminedcharge may be billed from the client or the mobile communicationterminal user that uses the location-based information providing serviceor the intermediation service to provide the location-based information.

Thirteenth Embodiment

In a thirteenth embodiment, a portion of data transfer in the downloaddirection in the network is provided by Broadcast Satellite (BS) digitaldata broadcasting, as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, there is an effectthat the location-based information or the information source anddistribution condition list may be provided to multiple mobilecommunication terminals scattering in a wide range simultaneously andquickly.

Fourteenth Embodiment

In a fourteenth embodiment, the mobile communication terminal isconfigured to comprise network connecting means by DSRC (Dedicated ShortRange Communication) and, on the other hand, a plurality of DSRCtransmitting and receiving means is implemented on the network side. Theplurality of DSRC transceivers on the network side is disposed along theroad.

Each of the DSRC transceivers on the network side communicates with themobile communication terminal irrespective of the physical location of atransmittable/receivable area for each DSRC transceiver, so that thelocation-based information that satisfies the distribution conditions,on the basis of the position detecting result of the mobilecommunication terminal rather than the position detecting (communicationdetecting) function of the DSRC transceiver is provided or acquired byway of the DSRC transceiver (the position detecting function of the DSRCtransceiver may also be used in combination).

With the above configuration, there is an effect that both the positiondetection accuracy of the mobile communication terminal and thehigh-speed property of the DSRC communication may be utilizedefficiently to provide or acquire the location-based information.

Fifteenth Embodiment

In a fifteenth embodiment, the intermediation computer system isconfigured to comprise data encoding means and, on the other hand, themobile communication terminal is configured to comprise decoding meansto decode the encoded data.

In this case, there is an effect that a risk that the data needingsecure concealment is cracked easily and used for evil purposes on thenetwork may be reduced.

Sixteenth Embodiment

In a sixteenth embodiment, a code specifying a format to express thesearch conditions in themselves or the information source anddistribution condition list (for example, <H> for an HTML format and <X>for an XML format) is included in the search conditions.

In this case, there is an effect that a wide variety of methods forspecifying the search conditions or the information source anddistribution condition list may be used.

Further, types of the search conditions (for example, the types as shownin FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C may also be specified in the searchconditions. In this case, the intermediation computer first checks thetype and then decodes the search conditions. By doing so, there is aneffect that a wider variety of the search conditions may beaccommodated.

Seventeenth Embodiment

In a seventeenth embodiment, the content server is installed not on anopen site on the Internet but on an closed site such as on a LAN towhich the intermediation computer system belongs. In this case, there isan effect that the authenticating step may be omitted, various files maybe read or written directly, quality of contents may be readilymonitored, and the like.

Eighteenth Embodiment

In each of the above described embodiments of the present invention, theintermediation computer system may also be configured to monitorstatistics such as an access frequency by location of mobilecommunication terminals or an access frequency to each of the contentsin order to make use of the statistics for enriching or renovating thecontents.

Nineteenth Embodiment

In a location-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to a nineteenth embodiment, the mobile communication terminalis combined to the motion control system of a vehicle to control themotion of the vehicle based upon the location-based information forcontrolling the vehicle. In this case, for example, a plurality ofvehicles equipped with the mobile communication terminals may beprovided with the command (the location-based information) dependingupon each present position to move uniquely to each location. Morespecifically, it may be utilized for control of a group of vehiclesdistributed in a wide area.

For example, as an application of the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to the presentinvention, for consumer use, for example, a route for avoiding a trafficjam may be specified dynamically for each location by altering contentsof the content server also dynamically depending upon commands. In ataxi application, for example, a group of taxis may be directed to aregion where a usage frequency is high.

When the mobile communication terminal is a cellular phone equipped withthe position detecting means, a task to guide a user-pedestrian to aspecific place may be attained by presenting location-based information(a destination guide) at important points.

In the field of aircraft, when an aircraft enters a specific airspace,operational instructions may be presented for the airspace. Otherwise,precautions for the airspace may be presented. When the aircraft entersthe airspace where any danger is warned, an alarm may be issued and thenthe aircraft may be controlled to obviate the danger. Moreover, when theaircraft reaches the airspace, the next direction may be instructed andsubsequently, flying direction may be changed successivelyautomatically.

In an agricultural field, tractors may be instructed to performappropriate driving control at each point to achieve automatic driving.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The location-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to the present invention may be applied not only to providedesired location-based information but also to administer a group ofvehicles in a wide area, guide the vehicles on a route, controloperations of the vehicles and the like.

1. A location-based information intermediation and acquisition method inwhich an intermediation computer system on a network intermediateslocation-based information provided on said network and a mobilecommunication terminal on said network acquires the desiredlocation-based information that synchronizes with behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal through the intermediation, comprising: in saidintermediation computer system, transmitting to said mobilecommunication terminal over the network an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on the network ofan information source having the location-based information thatcorresponds to specific search conditions with distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of said location-based information; andin said mobile communication terminal, verifying behavior of said mobilecommunication terminal against the distribution conditions of theinformation source indicated in said received information source anddistribution condition list, for each information source, and thenreceiving and presenting the location-based information by accessing theverified information source.
 2. A location-based informationintermediation method, comprising transmitting to a mobile communicationterminal an information source and distribution condition list thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havingpredetermined location-based information that corresponds to specificsearch conditions with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information. 3-5. (canceled) 6.A location-based information acquisition method, comprising: receivingfrom outside an information source and distribution condition list thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havingpredetermined location-based information with distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of the location-based information; andverifying, for each information source, behavior of a mobilecommunication terminal including a location thereof against thedistribution conditions of the information source indicated in theinformation source and distribution condition list received, and thenreceiving and presenting the location-based information by accessing theverified information source.
 7. A location-based information acquisitionmethod, comprising: requesting an intermediation computer system toprovide intermediation support in connection with predeterminedlocation-based information while attaching search conditions for thelocation-based information provided on a network; receiving aninformation source and distribution condition list that associates alocation on a network of an information source having the predeterminedlocation-based information with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information from saidintermediation computer system via the network; and verifying, for eachinformation source, behavior of a mobile communication terminalincluding a location thereof against the distribution conditions of theinformation source indicated in the information source and distributioncondition list received, and then receiving and presenting thelocation-based information by accessing the verified information source.8. The location-based information acquisition method according to claim7, wherein the search conditions are updated automatically as the mobilecommunication terminal moves.
 9. The location-based informationacquisition method according to claim 7, further comprising presenting ascreen for inputting the search conditions, wherein the searchconditions are specified through said screen to request provision ofintermediation support. 10-14. (canceled)
 15. A location-basedinformation intermediation method according to claim 2, furthercomprising, when receiving a request to transmit the information sourceand distribution condition list concerning predetermined location-basedinformation to a specified mobile communication terminal by specifying asearch condition from an arbitrary client computer over the network,transmitting the information source and distribution condition list tosaid specified mobile communication terminal. 16-40. (canceled)
 41. Thelocation-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the intermediation computer systemadditionally transmits distribution bearing angle information thatlimits a moving direction of the mobile communication terminal as one ofthe distribution conditions in the information source and distributioncondition list to the mobile communication terminal; and said mobilecommunication terminal verifies the moving direction of said mobilecommunication terminal against the distribution bearing angle in theinformation source and distribution condition list, and accesses theinformation source that conforms to the distribution conditions toreceive the location-based information for presentation.